"The atmosphere dominating the meeting was positive and constructive and the negotiations will continue tomorrow morning," a diplomatic source close to the Iranian delegation told FNA after the end of the second session of the talks between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, France, Britain and China plus Germany) in Geneva on Tuesday.
"Both sides (Iran and the six world powers) showed a serious attitude during the meeting and negotiations and several questions and answers were asked and answered face-to-face," the source added.
The diplomat said the two sides discussed "the details of Iran's three-staged proposal" and "the Iranian side elaborated on its plan".
Negotiating teams from Iran and the G5+1 ended their second session of Tuesday talks in the European city of Geneva minutes ago.
The second session of the talks started at the UN offices in the European city at 14:30 (Geneva time) and lasted for over two hours after a rather successful session of negotiations in the morning which lasted for nearly two hours. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi headed the Iranian delegation and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton's Deputy Helga Schmidt represented the world powers in the afternoon meeting.
The Iranian delegation is comprised of Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi, Foreign Ministry's Director-General for the Economic and Specialized International Affairs Hamid Ba'eedinejad, Legal Advisor to the Foreign Ministry Davoud Mohammadnia, and Mohammad Amiri from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
In the morning session, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif started the talks and presented Tehran's new package of proposals to the opposite side. Zarif did not attend the afternoon session, and his deputy Araqchi took the lead for the Iranian side. Zarif has announced that he would come back to lead the Iranian team in the talks when his counterparts from the Group 5+1 take part in the negotiations. At present, the talks are held at the level of deputy foreign ministers.
Following the morning session, Araqchi, who is also the spokesman of the Iranian team, told reporters that "the negotiations were held in a highly positive atmosphere and the two sides were serious when speaking of their issues".
Asked about Iran's new package of proposals, Araqchi said the package is "confidential" and the two sides have agreed to keep it secret until an agreement is made.
"Mr. Zarif had a powerpoint presentation of the plan in details, the generalities of the plan were discussed in the morning session and the details will be studied by (the two sides') political directors in the afternoon," he added.
Araqchi said that the world powers have welcomed the general points of Tehran's proposals on the settlement the country's nuclear standoff with the West, adding that Iran is seeking to encourage the opposite side to pursue a common goal for the negotiations.
"The Group 5+1 member states welcomed the generalities of Iran's plan," Araqchi told reporters.
He noted that the two sides would decide the date for the next round of the negotiations, which, he said, will likely be in the next month, in their Wednesday talks.
Araqchi said that Iran and the world powers should take certain steps for the settlement of Tehran's nuclear issue, and added, "The time of these steps should be specified because Iran does not want to move in an ambiguous atmosphere."
He also stressed that Iran has defined a common goal for the negotiations, and said, "Unlike the previous meetings that every side entered the negotiations to attain its own goals, this time we will try to design a common goal and then move towards it."
Araqchi expressed the hope that the representatives of Iran and the G5+1 would be able to make a decision on the date of the next round of the talks between the two sides during the Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday sessions.
Zarif, heading a high-ranking delegation, left Tehran for Geneva on Monday and held a dinner meeting with Ashton last night.
Iran and the world powers held a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York in September and decided to meet again in Geneva on October 15-16.
